1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to computer systems having interchangeable circuit boards and more particularly to configuration of the circuit boards for use in a particular computer system.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Microprocessors with enhanced speed and size have made it possible to develop and utilize a variety of sophisticated memory and input/output devices located on circuit boards. The use of interchangeable circuit boards has allowed lower cost, highly flexible computer systems to be developed. A desired basic computer system including a microprocessor and a system board containing connectors for receiving the circuit boards is obtained by the user. The user then adds the desired circuit boards having the desired memory and input/output features of the completed computer systems. In this way individualized computer systems can be easily and efficiently developed.
The circuit boards associated with the sophisticated memory and input/output devices make complex demands on the computer system resources, particularly of the limited common computer resources such as interrupt request lines, direct memory access (DMA) channels and input/output and memory address space. Additionally, the circuit boards often require internal initialization or the selection of internal options to meet the desired conditions.
Configuring a variety of circuit boards in one computer system leads to potential configuration conflicts and complex decisions, particularly as the complexity of the circuit board increases or the installer's experience decreases. Various choices must be made for selecting interrupt lines, DMA channels and address locations which do not conflict with those of another circuit board. After the choices have been made, often based on reading highly cryptic or obscure manuals, the actual configuration must be done. In previous circuit boards, setting the interrupt, DMA and address options generally entailed setting the correct switches or jumpers, again as indicated by the manual.
Initialization of software activated options had to be included in special initialization procedures or set at the beginning of the desired applications package. As a result, configuration was very complex and time consuming, particularly for relatively unskilled users or for experienced systems integrators when using new circuit boards.